When everything breaks
by red moonshadow
Summary: Post Hogwarts, with tension in the wizarding world and Voldemort lying low. Once Ginny Weasley would have done anything to become Mrs Potter, but things change. In a frightening turn of events, she realises that it's not just her that has changed. GWDM
1. The breakage

These characters aren't mine (as you know)  
  
Ginny blinked and rubbed her eyes as she looked in the mirror. Her reflection stared back at her with the same black-rimmed bloodshot eyes. She shook her head, her hair flying wildly around her. She'd had that same dream again, the one where Tom stepped from the diary and took all she had within her. The dream that only Harry could chase away. But Harry had left her.  
  
She washed all her memories away with a hot shower and descended the stairs to the kitchen. Her mother smiled as she entered.  
  
"Good morning dear, you will have some breakfast wont you?" she asked hopefully.  
  
"No Mum, I need to head straight to work," she lied. A longing, sympathetic look was sent her way and she hurried from the room.  
  
She got to work early and sat at her desk with her head in her hands. She hated coming to work now. Once it had been wonderful working at the Ministry, but now that every face was filled with compassion and sympathy that she did not want or need it had become almost unbearable.  
  
"How are you feeling today Ginny?" She had time to wonder how this stranger knew her name before the person had been ushered away by Percy, who had come down with her morning coffee.  
  
"Who was that?" he asked, placing her coffee a relative distance from her erratic stack of documents.  
  
"I have absolutely no idea," she replied with little warmth and enthusiasm.  
  
"Have you thought more about my idea?" She looked at him critically, and laughed.  
  
"No Percy, I am not transferring to your division. I am quite happy where I am." He cocked his head to the side.  
  
"Are you quite sure?" She gritted her teeth and smiled, which was more of a grimace.  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Alright then. I'll see you later," he said as he turned and walked back to the lift.  
  
"I hope not," Ginny mumbled.  
  
Later that day, after Ginny had drunk three cups of coffee and been asked 28 times how she was, she poised herself to step out of the lift and onto the Auror floor. She took a deep breath and slowly began her walk.  
  
"Ginny!" Oh God, she thought, Hermione, why did you have to draw attention to me?  
  
"Hermione," she replied without enthusiasm.  
  
"How have you been?" Ginny gritted her teeth.  
  
"I'm fine Hermione. I've been fine. I have to get back to work now. Goodbye Hermione," she replied slowly and turned to walk away. Hermione watched her in astonishment. What did I say, she thought in confusion, and she walked quietly back to her desk.  
  
Ginny's teeth ached, she had been gritting her teeth so much these last few weeks. As she walked she suddenly saw that familiar flash of black hair in her peripheral vision, she quickened her pace.  
  
"Ginny?" Oh God, no. Please don't do this to me. She turned slowly, her hand falling from the lift button limply to her side.  
  
"Hello Harry," she replied. He smiled, he had the nerve to smile. Thinking she didn't know, thinking it was okay to pretend it never happened, like nothing was wrong.  
  
"I was wondering, could I ask a favour?" What?  
  
"What could you possibly want from me?" She glared, strangely reminiscent of Severus Snape.  
  
"I was just wondering ..." Harry trailed off into silence and Ginny continued to glare at him.  
  
"Just spit it out," she said angrily.  
  
"You work with Shelly Winters, right?" he asked.  
  
"Yeah." She absently pulled at the ends of her short red hair.  
  
"I was wondering, could you set me up with her?" WHAT? She yanked rather hard on the hair she held between her fingers and a few strands came loose.  
  
She laughed, despite the pain. She actually laughed at the Boy Who Lived. A year ago she never would have laughed at anything he ever said to her, but then again a year ago he had said he loved her more than anything. Now, well now she was angry and he was a bastard.  
  
"She's a lesbian," she replied quickly, attempting to hide the smirk at her blatant lie. She also made a mental note to tell Shelly her little lie, not that she'd ever date this, this pile of …  
  
And now, she had apparently run out of suitable insults for the little weasel. She again turned to walk away, but he grabbed her elbow.  
  
"Are you okay Gin?" Oh fuck you.  
  
"Harry, don't ever touch me." And with that she yanked her arm out of his grip and stepped into the waiting lift, an audible gnashing of her teeth.  
  
Ginny avoided moving from her desk for the remainder of her work day, she piled any work requiring her removal on the far edge of her desk and ignored it. Harry sat at his desk, shuffling his many files and smiling at the pretty girls that wandered past him.  
  
A/N Short I know, but it's only a start :) 


	2. Of glue and cellotape

These characters still aren't mine ...  
  
Again Ginny woke from a dream she wished she could not remember. She stared into the sparse, early morning darkness, trying not to see a face in every hidden corner. The nightmare had been different this time, Tom had seemed older and Harry had been there, standing in the shadows and watching.  
  
She sat up and swung her legs over the side of her bed onto the floor. Reaching for her wand from the nightstand, her hand hit a rather solid obstruction. The picture fell onto the floor where it smashed. A picture that had not been there 24 hours ago.  
  
"Lumos," she said softly. She turned the picture in her hand as she lifted it carefully from the floor, and almost dropped it again as she saw Harry beaming at her from it's confines.  
  
He waved and blew her kisses through the falling snow. They had been happy when this was taken, just three months ago. She hated the way photos captured that one moment and kept it preserved. If the photo had progressed with the original, the occupant would have walked out of the frame two weeks ago.  
  
She remembered too much. She found it strange that so many happy memories could be so painful. Memories of birthdays and anniversaries and of a schoolgirl crush that slowly grew into love.  
  
She dropped the destroyed photo into her rubbish bin. It was enough to see the photos her mother kept around the house, like Harry was part of the family, but for her mother to keep insisting she had one in her room was too much. She looked around her room slowly, with its teenage décor and single bed, wondering what she was doing here. It's time to move on, she thought, pulling her door open and stepping out into the hall.  
  
She smiled, but it felt so alien on her face that it soon melted into nothing. How long had it been since she had laughed or smiled? She couldn't even remember. What would she do now that Harry was gone? She couldn't remember what it was like to not be in love with him; she had been for so long.  
  
Walking down to the kitchen, she heard the stairs beneath her creak and wondered why her parents didn't move now that it was just the two of them living here. Fred and George lived in London with their wives, Percy had long ago moved to Scotland with his wife, Charlie was still in Romania, Bill lived on his own, and Ron would soon be moving in with Hermione and Luna. Surely they weren't planning on having more children, or expecting her to stay forever?  
  
Arthur Weasley was sitting at the table when Ginny walked into the kitchen; he looked up and smiled.  
  
"Good morning dear," he said as he put down yesterday's copy of the Daily Profit.  
  
"Morning Dad, what are you doing up so early?" Ginny asked as she busied herself with fixing some breakfast.  
  
"Mundungus bewitched a whole truckload of Muggle toys, they were sent to stores all over London. It may take all day to sort out."  
  
"Oh, do you want some help with that?" she asked, her brow furrowed in annoyance.  
  
"No, you enjoy your Saturday off. I have a whole department to help me."  
  
"But your department is only three people."  
  
"I know," he replied with a smile which distinctly reminded Ginny of her twin brothers.  
  
They sat in silence for the next 20 minutes; Mr Weasley again picked up the crumpled paper and began to read. Ginny stared into the murky depths of her coffee cup. She was startled when her mother laid a warm hand on her shoulder.  
  
"Ginny dear, are you all right?" she asked.  
  
"I'm fine, Mum," she replied evenly. Mr Weasley stood to leave, dropping the paper in front of Ginny, and kissed both his wife and youngest child before walking out the door. Ginny stared at the paper; she could see the tips of the word 'accommodation' from above the ruffled pages.  
  
"No, leave that," she said as Mrs Weasley reached for the discarded Profit.  
  
"You want to read the paper?"  
  
"I want to look for somewhere to live, can't stay here forever you know." Ginny smiled hopefully and her mother patted her shoulder where that warm hand was still resting.  
  
"I understand dear. Now, do you want some breakfast?"  
  
"No Mum, I've already had some." Ginny indicated her crummy plate with a wave of her hand.  
  
"You're sure you don't want some more?"  
  
"Yes Mum, I'm quite sure." Mrs Weasley snatched up her plate and put it in the sink to be washed.  
  
Mrs Weasley watched her daughter, as Ginny remained still and contemplating the full day ahead of her. She reached out for the paper and Mrs Weasley sighed loudly.  
  
"Are you going to start looking straight away?" she asked. Ginny did not turn to her mother; she didn't want to see the look on her face.  
  
"Now is as good a time as any, don't you think?" Mrs Weasley sighed again. It wasn't that she didn't want her daughter to be happy, it was just that she thought Harry would come back to Ginny and receive her ample forgiveness. In fact, everyone thought that. How wrong they were.  
  
Ginny didn't find much of interest in the paper, a couple of apartments overlooking Diagon Alley and 3 in Knockturn Alley. Voldemort's hold on the wizarding world was increasing, so much that nobody was afraid anymore to say they supported his reign. Ginny felt a fleeting sense of panic and anxiety, but that soon passed when her mother again placed a hand on her shoulder.  
  
"Find anything worth looking at?" she asked, peering over her shoulder to where the Profit was smudged with marks Ginny had left.  
  
"A couple in Diagon Alley, but perhaps it would be better not to live so close to Fred and George," she replied as she handed the paper up to her mother.  
  
"Shall we look today then? What else do you have planned?"  
  
"That's all I have planned, except for a little shopping maybe."  
  
"What do you have to buy dear?" Mrs Weasley sat heavily at the table, looking like it was a reluctant move. When had her house become so empty, she missed fussing over her children at the breakfast table.  
  
"I just want to have a little look around. Might need a few things for the new place. All that stuff Harry and I bought together needs to be replaced," Ginny replied sadly.  
  
"I still don't know why you didn't take it with you. You shouldn't have to buy all new things," her mother scolded with an odd little smile playing at the corners of her lips.  
  
"I didn't want it, Mum. I didn't want to have to look at it and remember when we bought it."  
  
"Oh," Mrs Weasley replied quietly. Ginny stood up and looked around the kitchen wearily, the moving hands on the clock caught her eye. The clock had changed over the years, Harry had been added after Sirius died and then of course the Dursley's house also had to be added. Mortal peril remained, and so many times had at least two of those hands pointed towards it, school was now gone since Ginny was the last to graduate three years ago. Then three Weasley wives were added, Hermione and Luna. And soon there would be more additions, as a niece and nephew were both on the way.  
  
Ginny took little time getting ready for the day ahead. She looked into her wardrobe briefly, and then decided against wearing anything it contained. Instead she went to her drawers and pulled out a pair of old ripped jeans and last year's Weasley jumper. She descended the stairs for the second time that morning and met her mother back in the kitchen, where they decided to floo to Diagon Alley.  
  
The first apartment Ginny had on her list was above the Magical Menagerie. However, despite the many silencing spells her mother tried, the noise was louder than Ron's singing in the shower and annoyed her just as much. The next was better, almost opposite Weasley's Wizard Wheezes and as Ginny walked around the apartment that became less and less of an irritation.  
  
"I love it, Mum. What do you think?" she asked as they opened the spare bedroom door to look inside.  
  
"It is very nice. You did notice what was across the street though, didn't you dear?"  
  
"Yes, but it's so nice." Ginny spun around to emphasise her point.  
  
"Then I think you should take it. It'll be nice to have you living somewhere safe. Unlike Bill, who needs to move out of that awful Muggle house till the war is over," her mother said with a scowl. This had been an annoyance to rival the hair and the earring for her parents, and it was one argument she was staying right out of.  
  
Ginny approached the owner of the apartment, who had been showing them around, and secured her interest in the property. She wondered at the feeling of contentment as she looked around her new bedroom, with its view of the London street beyond the Leaky Cauldron.  
  
"I'm happy. I'm actually happy," she said aloud to nobody in particular.  
  
"I'm glad, dear," her mother replied as they walked out the front door and heading back to the Burrow. 


	3. Back to reality

centerCHAPTER THREE – BACK TO REALITY/center  
  
"Are you alright?" Hermione asked, coming up the path to where Ginny was standing.  
  
"I'm fine," she replied.  
  
"What are you doing?" Ginny levitated the final box into her Ministry borrowed car.  
  
"I'm trying to put my life back together."  
  
"You think this is helping?"  
  
"Yes I do." The box slotted easily into the enlarged boot and she turned to look at Hermione, standing with her hands on her hips and a determined look on her face.  
  
"Just wait. Harry will come back," she said, grabbing Ginny's arm as she attempted to walk past.  
  
"I don't want him to come back. I don't want him," Ginny replied. She blinked back tears that had been threatening to fall since she awoke, and started back into the house for the last of her things.  
  
She couldn't remember when she had stopped caring what others wanted of her; maybe it had been when she was finally made a prefect in her sixth year at Hogwarts. But it was so hard to please everyone, she had instead chosen to please herself. So she had finally been able to become her own person, and with that came Harry.  
  
She realised now that she had never really known him at all; she had a picture of what she wanted him to be. It had broken her heart when he could not fit the picture; he had broken her heart. And it had been her mistake.  
  
"Come on Gin, are you ready to go yet?" George called from the front seat of her car. She stopped and looked back at the Burrow, crooked and looming.  
  
"Almost," she replied quietly. She dropped her bags onto the cobbled path and ran back inside to pick up the half finished book that she had left discarded on the living-room floor. It was a book Shelly had lent her, a self-help book that Ginny found mildly amusing.  
  
She returned to collect her bags, just as Fred was throwing them into the back seat of her car and getting in himself. It had surprised Ginny that Fred and George had volunteered to help her move when nobody else had been willing. She smiled to herself as she dug the keys from her pocket and stepped up to the drivers' door.  
  
It didn't take long to drive from the Burrow to Diagon Alley, within two hours Ginny had all her belongings piled erratically on her new living-room floor.  
  
"Thanks you two," she said, smiling tiredly.  
  
"That's alright Gin. You just make sure you come and visit us," George replied.  
  
"And back us up with Katie and Ange," Fred added.  
  
"I wouldn't dare," she replied. It's true what they say, boys really do marry their mothers, or had Katie and Angelina merely turned into Molly Weasley when they had taken on the role of controlling the twins? Ginny shrugged and laughed as the twins faces fell.  
  
Later that night, as she sat in front of her small fireplace with her book forgotten in her lap, having promised to visit her brothers the next day and unpacked roughly a third of her boxes, she tried to comprehend how her life had turned out so wrong.  
  
Not too far away there was another Hogwarts graduate trying to comprehend this same premise. He had done what his father wanted, what he thought he wanted. And yet here he was, waiting for something spectacular to happen, something that would take the decision to leave out of his hands. Because he knew he couldn't make it.  
  
His father shifted in his chair, and Draco raised his book higher.  
  
"Why are you here Father?" he asked through the paperback. Lucious Malfoy stood up and looked out the window, into Knockturn Alley.  
  
"I am simply here to keep an eye on you, my boy," he drawled.  
  
"Why would I need you to keep an eye on me?" Draco asked calmly. He stared at his father's back, wondering if he knew what he had been thinking lately.  
  
"You've been doing some stupid things lately."  
  
"Like what?"  
  
"Like reading this book when I am talking to you, for one." He strode over and snatched the book from Draco. "You shouldn't be reading this, this Muggle crap anyway. What do you think you're doing?" Draco looked fixidly at the cover of the book in his father's hands. It was a book he had picked up in London, he couldn't even remember where. It hadn't even occurred to him that he shouldn't read it.  
  
"I will read whatever I like. Besides, it's not like I'm reading fairy stories, it's about some psychopath." He reached out to take it back but his father jerked it out of his reach.  
  
"It's imbicillic is what it is. It's a waste of time." And with that, he threw it into the fire.  
  
Draco stood and looked at his father with disgust.  
  
"Alright, point made. Now leave." His father snorted.  
  
"With pleasure. I don't know why you live here Draco, when you could live at the Manor." He disappeared with a pop and Draco began to laugh.  
  
"To avoid touching moments like these," he said to the air. He sat back in his chair and watched the book burn. It was a shame really; he had wanted to see how Hannibal Lector escaped.  
  
When the last page was curled and blackened Draco stood and paced his cluttered living room once. He rubbed his empty stomach, and quickly dismissed the idea of cooking himself dinner. That was the one thing he just couldn't get used to, cooking and cleaning for himself. At the manor there had always been someone around to do those things for him, maids, servants, cooks, and when all else failed, his mother.  
  
The few times he had cooked for himself it had been mediocre and required a great deal of effort. He had soon given up on that practice, for a usual table and menu at the Leaky Cauldron.  
  
Ginny stood up, once again leaving her book discarded on the floor, and looked around the small mess she had created earlier. She had been unpacking sporadically, a clock here and a blanket there. Enough to get her through the night, but she had yet to organise some dinner for herself. She stepped over a half empty box, retrieved her cloak, and closed the front door behind her.  
  
The door to the Leaky Cauldron opened with a creak and Ginny looked into the semi-crowded room. Her eyes flitted across a few familiar but unfriendly faces and she sighed. She approached the bar and ordered some dinner and a small bottle of Butterbeer. As she retreated to a corner table, away from the bulk of the early evening crowd, she met a pair of grey eyes staring back at her through the gloom.  
  
Draco scoffed at himself, he should have known. The red hair and slight frame should have reminded him. But there were some things he did not remember, her pretty face and the swell of her breasts. Those were things he did not attribute to the freckle-faced girl who used to follow Harry Potter around, and yet here she was, exciting his curiosity.  
  
He saw that she was alone, where was the famous Potter? How easy it would be to please those he followed, to bring them that pretty girl. And he felt nothing, no guilt, no loyalty, and no affection. He wondered at the haunted look mirrored in her eyes as they briefly met his own.  
  
Ginny blinked away her feeling of déjà vu and sat down to her dinner, her back to Draco. He scoffed again as he stood, threw some galleons onto the table, and sauntered out into the night.  
  
Ginny quickly ate her dinner and she too left the bar to return home. She did not notice the other occupant of the Alley, solitary and shadowed. Malevolent brown eyes watched her walk briskly back to her apartment, fumble with her wand at the lock, and enter with a fleeting glance towards her brother's derelict shop at her back.  
  
She awoke the next morning to brilliant sunlight shinning through her bedroom window, creating a wall against the unsettled dust. Her dry mouth forced her to get up and pad barefoot into her small kitchen. The windows faced into Muggle London and she watched the people rush back and forth as she sipped her glass of cool water.  
  
After her thirst had been sated and she was once again dressed in ripped jeans and weasley jersey, she returned to the cluttered living-room and resumed the unpacking of her boxes.  
  
Draco leaned back in his bed, thinking of an elusive redhead. Why had he dreamed of her, shrouded in darkness and leading him into the mist when he hadn't thought of her since he was 17? He laughed dryly and reached to the book lying on his bedside table. Pain ripped through his left forearm, a burning pain he was learning to hate.  
  
He put on plain robes and apparated to Riddle House, where a circle was being formed to welcome their leader.  
  
"It is time to come out of the shadows," a voice called. Draco turned to see a hooded figure, and its red eyes met his as he placed the mask over his face.  
  
Ginny looked up from her boxes to knocking at the door. She looked at her watch and noticed it had been four hours since she had been aware of the passing of time, it was now 2pm and she had little left to unpack and put away.  
  
She put her hand on the doorknob and paused with misplaced uncertainty.  
  
"Who is it?" she asked.  
  
"It's me, open the door," Harry replied through the door. 


	4. Jigsaw pieces

centerCHAPTER FOUR – JIGSAW PIECES/center  
  
"What do you want Harry?"  
  
i"What have we been summoned for?"/i  
  
"I want to talk to you."  
  
i"I want Harry Potter! The person who brings him to me will be greatly rewarded."/i  
  
Ginny opened the door. Draco opened his mouth.  
  
Ginny raised her eyebrows in anticipation.  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"Shelly isn't a lesbian," Harry stated in reply.  
  
"Really?" She rolled her eyes.  
  
"Well, I asked and she isn't."  
  
"Who'd you ask?" Ginny picked up her wand as she spoke and Harry took a tentative step back.  
  
"I asked around the office."  
  
"That right?" She put her hands on her hips and Harry faltered. "I'm late for a lunch appointment, so, if you have a point, kindly get to it."  
  
"You have a date?" he asked quickly.  
  
"Harry get out of my way," she replied, advancing on him as he stood motionless in the doorway.  
  
"But you can't go on a date." She looked at him icily.  
  
"And why is that Harry? Why wouldn't I?" She stepped around him and pulled the door shut behind them.  
  
"Because—"  
  
"Goodbye Harry." She walked away, leaving Harry to stare after her retreating form.  
  
"…you're imy/i girl," Harry finished quietly.  
  
When Harry followed out into the Alley, Ginny was already gone. He walked away bewildered, assuming she had apparated to her destination. Ginny watched him through the jokeshop window, as a stray tear fell and she wiped at it distractedly. She was sick of feeling like her life should revolve around Harry Potter, he was not hers any more and she was strangely glad.  
  
"Ginny, what are you looking at?" Fred asked, tapping her on the shoulder and making her jump.  
  
"Nothing. There's nothing there," she replied.  
  
As Ginny followed her brother into the shop, a small pop sounded in a deserted corner of the Alley and laughter echoed into the air.  
  
There was a pop in the silent hall and Lucious Malfoy appeared. Voldemort looked up with disgust, and wondered how he had come to depend on this mostly incompetent wizard.  
  
"You are late Malfoy," he called.  
  
"I have good news," he replied simply.  
  
"Do share." Voldemort stood from his chair as Malfoy approached him, and paced the dank and empty Riddle parlour.  
  
"I've seen Harry Potter."  
  
Ginny waved from the entranceway of her apartment and smiled to her brothers before disappearing inside. She collapsed into a chair beside the fire and sunk down into the soft cushioning.  
  
"Hey Gin!" Ginny's eyes flew open at the intrusive voice beside her. She sat up and looked down into the fireplace, Shelly beamed back at her.  
  
"Hey. How are you?"  
  
"I'm perfect, and you?"  
  
"I'm pretty good."  
  
"Wonderful. What are you doing tomorrow night?"  
  
"Not a lot, why?"  
  
"Double date, Ginny my dear. You in?" she asked with a wink.  
  
"Sure," Ginny replied.  
  
"Great, I'll talk to you at work tomorrow then. Right now, I think I need some chocolate." She looked around. "Nice place." Shelly's head disappeared and Ginny relaxed back into her chair.  
  
Draco stood, staring out into Knockturn Alley, and scratched the place on his arm where the Dark Mark had burnt earlier that day. How had he got here? Discontent and immobile.  
  
He had not seen his father at the gathering, and as yet he had not stopped to wonder why. He did not care. He was long past caring about anything his father ever did.  
  
Draco had little to do. He did not need to work, although he did. He had gone straight from Hogwarts to a corner office in the Ministry of Magic. Trust in the wizarding world was dwindling, but darkness and prejudice had always been increasing. He no longer knew who was a spy, such as Severus Snape had been before his marriage, and he did not care. He kept largely to himself, within and without the circle of Voldemort, with few friends and many acquaintances.  
  
He had not been back to the Leaky Cauldron, for fear of seeing Ginny Weasley again. Or rather, for fear of iher/i seeing ihim/i. If she were to recognise him, she would surely go running to Potter. Little did he know, she would have done no such thing.  
  
He watched the people below him, hidden beneath dark cloaks and secluded by shadow, make their way along the Alley. He wondered who of these had been in that room with him that morning, a circle of masked faces. He placed his palm on the glass and tapped his fingers impatiently. Why couldn't he get her out of his head?  
  
He could remember the last time he had been with her, even though it had been the best part of four years ago and what seemed like half his lifetime had passed. During The last week of his last year at Hogwarts, when his future had still been ambiguous. He could have followed Potter into the plains of war, but instead he chose to stand in his father's wake.  
  
They had been sitting together in detention, and he was watching her out of the corner of his eye from across the room. He was weary of her, and that wavy red hair was a welcome distraction from his Transfiguration homework. She was concentrating, he could tell from the determined look on her face, on her Potions essay. Her quill had been stationary for about ten minutes and he couldn't help but feel smug, he had always received good marks for Potions and he barely had to try.  
  
"Mr Malfoy, if you have something to say to Miss Weasley I suggest you wait till you are outside of my class," Professor McGonagall said sternly. Ginny looked back at Draco with irritation, and a hint of curiosity as to why McGonagall would think he wanted to talk to her.  
  
"Yes Professor," he replied quietly, looking down to his own parchment. Ginny went back to scribbling on her Potions essay.  
  
He had said nothing to her, even after McGonagall had dismissed them and then left herself. He had ignored her presence and lingering curiosity, packing his things away and walking briskly out.  
  
That was the last time he really saw her, the next week Hogwarts was closed. He had seen her since then of course, but she had not seen him. He had learned to be stealthy and shielded, like a shadow on a merri-go-round.  
  
"Jesus Malfoy, get a grip," he said aloud, stepping back from the window and letting his arm drop. He went to his bed to retrieve the book he had yet to finish.  
  
Ginny woke in the morning, still curled up in her chair beside the dwindled fire. Her back creaked as she stood and stretched. She quickly got ready for work, and left her apartment deserted.  
  
She worked slowly to her lunch break, which her and Shelly had arranged to spend together. She took care of the tasks she had leftover from the week before, and then began the work that had accumulated over the weekend and the early morning. Memos flew in and out of her Department and she sat for a while watching them. As one landed silently on her desk and unfolded itself, she began laughing. Written on the parchment were the words 'stop watching the dust settle, and lets go to lunch!' She looked up and Shelly was beckoning her with her manicured index finger.  
  
They went into London, to a restaurant that Shelly's parents owned and ran, and ordered their usual meals.  
  
"We haven't been here in ages, they've almost forgotten our usuals," Shelly said sadly. Ginny nodded and pulled her messy hair away from her face and out of her eyes.  
  
"It's just not safe anymore, is it? There's been rumours," she replied.  
  
"I know. Believe me, I know."  
  
"You haven't been getting any trouble, have you?" Shelly, for once, looked at Ginny seriously, a hint of fear hidden behind her sparkling brown eyes. Being a Muggle-born and just out of Hogwarts at a time when pureblood families had progressively less empathy and sympathy for such, Shelly had seen her fair share of trouble. And Ginny was in awe of Shelly's always-contented demeanour, which she herself could not muster.  
  
"Only from you Gin. Me, a lesbian?" She smiled crookedly and Ginny blushed.  
  
"I panicked, sorry."  
  
"That's okay, but I have been getting a few odd looks."  
  
"From who?" The food arrived and Shelly shrugged.  
  
Lunch was soon over and they had yet to discuss the date they were to have that night. They stood in the lift, paper hovering at their heads, and continued to remain silent. Ginny became impatient.  
  
"So, what have you planned for tonight?" she asked finally, as they stopped on the second floor, where three memos and two wizards exited.  
  
"You remember that guy I met last week? Cameron?" Shelly said in reply.  
  
"The one that works at St Mungos?"  
  
"Yeah. He wanted to double, to be safe you know, and you're the only single gal I know." Ginny smiled wanly.  
  
"Indeed."  
  
As Ginny settled back down to her work, she found herself thinking again of how things had been since Hogwarts. It had taken her five years to find herself, and she realised now that while she had been with Harry she had lost herself again. She had dreamt of Tom Riddle again the night before, it was always the same. It was the one thing she missed about Harry, she never dreamt at all when he was beside her. It was almost as if he took away anything that made her iher/i. She became an extension of Harry Potter, and she wondered how she had ever been happy at all. She shuffled the parchments on her desk and diverted her attention back to her work.  
  
Time soon passed away and her Monday afternoon was over.  
  
"Ready to go Gin?" She looked up as Shelly sat on the edge of her desk and laced her fingers in her lap.  
  
"Ready as I'll ever be." Her stomach lurched uncomfortably.  
  
"That's the spirit," Shelly replied.  
  
It turned out that Ginny's date was someone she had met before, Colin Creevey. They spent the whole night catching up and avoiding the subject of Harry Potter. Colin promised to call her during the week so they could have lunch, she doubted his sincerity but was not disappointed. She knew he was dying to talk of that one subject she never wanted to discuss with him.  
  
She arrived home to find her door ajar; she looked around nervously and drew her wand.  
  
"Hello?" she called. There was no answer. She started in, stopping just inside the threshold, and turned back towards the jokeshop.  
  
She saw George emerge from the back of the store, when he saw her he smiled.  
  
"Where you been?" he asked as he opened the door for her. She waved away his question with her hand.  
  
"Have you been up to my place tonight?"  
  
"No, why?"  
  
"The door was open." George frowned and looked over her shoulder.  
  
"Wait here," he said. He touched her shoulder with his hand as he stepped around her.  
  
She started to get worried when he was not back after ten minutes; imy place isn't that big/i. She was on the verge of calling for Fred when George came back, walking with a limp.  
  
"What happened?" she asked, taking his arm.  
  
"Your place is a mess, I tripped on something."  
  
"So someone's been through there?"  
  
"Yeah, I think we'd better call the aurors to take a look." George looked at her and the protest died on her lips. He was afraid.  
  
"Alright, just not Harry," she replied.  
  
Draco had expected to be summoned that afternoon, but it never came and he had instead spent the day immersed in paperwork. He had arrived home and again waited. But Still nothing. He sat at his kitchen table, rolling his wand between his hands. The smell of his burning dinner finally reached his consciousness and Draco jumped up from the table. He wasn't that hungry anyway.  
  
He walked through into his living room and looked around. He saw, sitting on the coffee table, a box that had not been there earlier when he had returned from work. He lifted the lid, inside was a photo of Ginny. A recent photo.  
  
The next day passed without incident, but when she apparated back to Diagon Alley Fred and George were waiting outside her apartment. Nothing suspicious had been found the night before, just a mess and nothing missing, but they were still a little weary.  
  
"We're taking you out for dinner, Gin," Fred said.  
  
"Go in and get changed," George added with a smile.  
  
"What's the occasion?" she asked.  
  
"Nothing. Just thought the five of us could all go out, is all," George replied. She watched after them curiously as they wandered back to their store, and she went inside to change out of her work clothes.  
  
Ginny took half an hour to sift through her clothes before choosing a dark blue shirt and black pants. She quickly tied her hair up as she slipped on her sandals and rushed back out the door. She hurriedly grabbed her cloak, with the wand concealed in the pocket, before the door closed on her.  
  
Dinner was at first quite pleasant, despite Katie and Angelina's constant talk of children and the hints to their oblivious husbands. Nobody had asked her how she was, although perhaps she had spoken too soon. Angelina inclined her head to the side and smiled softly at her.  
  
"How are you Ginny?" she asked. Ginny groaned.  
  
"I'm fine, how are you?"  
  
"Oh, tonight isn't about me. It's about you." Ginny gripped her knife tighter. Her knuckles whitened.  
  
"So how's work?" Katie asked.  
  
"It's good."  
  
"Busy?"  
  
"I guess." She looked around at them, and they looked back at her like they were somehow expecting her to burst into tears.  
  
"And so you've been good then?" Angelina said as she patted Ginny's hand in which her knife was gripped. She flipped the knife around; it felt so much better in an offensive position in her hand. iOne more word/i, she thought, ijust one more word and I'm going to scream/i.  
  
"Are you sure you're alright?" Katie asked, "you look a little ill." Ginny raised her hand and stabbed down into the table. She stood and walked out without another word, into the deserted Alley.  
  
She hadn't taken three steps when something grabbed her, hands clamped onto her arms as she tried to draw her wand. She struggled, which was probably her biggest mistake. Her wand flew from her hand and into the shadows.  
  
"Well, well, Ginny Weasley. What are you doing out on a night like this? Alone," a voice asked her. She felt the pressure of a wand on the base of her neck, and she vaguely felt herself fall into waiting arms as she lost consciousness. 


	5. Dungeons and dragons

centerCHAPTER FIVE – DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS/center  
  
Fred and George followed not far behind Ginny, but it was already too late. They looked up and down the Alley, bewildered.  
  
"You think she apparated?" Fred asked. George shrugged his shoulders.  
  
"Or walked really fast…" George said mildly.  
  
"Hey, what's that?" Fred asked, pointing to the ground behind where George was standing. George crouched down and nearly lost his balance when he realised what it was.  
  
"It's Ginny's wand." George snatched it up.  
  
"What? Are you sure?"  
  
"Yeah, it's still got that chip we put in it last year."  
  
Draco woke with a start, his arm burned. He got up and put on his muddy shoes and damp cloak over the wrinkled clothes he had slept in. It had been raining earlier while he was out. He apparated quickly, after a quick swish of his wand to clean his sullen garments.  
  
When he arrived at the Riddle House, it was dark and empty. He knew the box had been an instruction, but why had he been so reluctant?  
  
Ginny thrashed in her spell-induced unconsciousness, a dream she could not wake from plagued her mind. She cried out, and in her dream she fell down into the darkness. As the diary slipped from her hand and hit the stone floor, it fell open and the pages began to turn.  
  
"Well where's Ginny then?" Fred asked. George just looked at him silently; they didn't need to communicate their suspicions. It was as if the whole of the wizarding community had held their breath for four years, waiting for something. Without another word, both Fred and George apparated to Ginny's apartment and began searching the rooms. When she couldn't be found, they apparated to the Burrow and told Mr and Mrs Weasley. Before the night was out, the Weasley house was full of aurors and pacing family members. Nobody but Ginny slept.  
  
"Ginny Weasley?" The name repeated and echoed in her mind.  
  
"Wake up, Ginny. Wake up," she whispered quietly to herself.  
  
"You'll wake up when I say so," the voice said. It had changed from Tom Riddle, to someone else. Someone familiar, but strange all the same.  
  
"Who's there?" She spun around.  
  
"There's nobody there Ginny," Harry said as he stepped towards her.  
  
"Where have you been?" she asked, like she had asked so many times before. When they had been together, in the real world.  
  
"I've been at work." He tried to put his arm around her and she moved out of his reach.  
  
"No you haven't." She lost her lucid awareness; Ginny was no longer in control. If she ever had been in the first place. Harry smiled at her, like he had so many times.  
  
"I was." She gave in; she let him take her in his arms. Forgiveness was free.  
  
Harry stared into the fire, wondering how he had let this happen. Ginny was gone. And it was all his fault.  
  
Ron almost tripped over him as he walked blindly past.  
  
"Sorry mate. What are you doing down there on the floor anyway?" he asked. Harry couldn't look at him, at any of them. He didn't have an answer; all he had was an apology that they would never accept.  
  
"Just thinking," he replied.  
  
"None of this is your fault Harry. You know that, don't you?"  
  
"Isn't it?"  
  
"Course not. We just should have been more careful, that's all."  
  
"You wouldn't have needed to be careful if it wasn't for me." Ron looked at him, and laughed. Half the room was staring at him in dismay but he didn't care.  
  
"Everyone has to be careful these days." Harry looked back at Ron, and nodded half-heartedly.  
  
"I guess you're right."  
  
"Damn right I am, and it's about time."  
  
The rest of the room was noisy with whispers, but nobody else had any answers either.  
  
Harry was leading her down a long chamber; she looked around but recognised nothing.  
  
"Where are we going?" she asked. They passed a sign embedded in the wall. Written slantingly were the words: 'Watch your step, lest you find something you wish you had not'. Her brow furrowed, she knew she had to remember something, but she was so exhausted. Harry stopped and she looked up, they had reached an impasse. A ragged cliff led downwards into darkness.  
  
"We're here," he said. Ginny looked down, into the chasm.  
  
"Where?"  
  
"You must wake up now Ginny, someone's coming." And he jumped, taking her with him. She screamed.  
  
Draco stopped, dead in his tracks. iWhat was that?/i A scream in the distance. He began to walk again, faster this time, through the dank basement dungeons of Riddle House. Unaware of what he would find, but following orders nonetheless. Because he had not done so earlier, and disappointment was not a thing Volemort suffered twice.  
  
He looked into the dungeon, and stepped back to regain his composure. He knew that red hair. Weasley red.  
  
"Weasley?" She looked up, her mud-streaked face showing little recognition.  
  
"I don't know where Harry is," she replied quietly.  
  
"Ginny?" he asked, trying to focus her attention. She took a step forward. Into the meagre amount of light that shone through the single barred window.  
  
"I know you," she said, barely above a whisper. Her throat hurt, her head hurt, and she thought a rib was broken.  
  
"Yeah, I guess you did once." He had been almost convinced he had made the wrong decision even ibefore/i he saw the fear in her eyes. Now he wished he could take it all back.  
  
"Malfoy?" she said slowly, "what am I doing here?"  
  
"I don't know, I only follow orders." Always, following orders without question. Only once had he faltered, and how many more times would he falter for her? For those hazel eyes, shiny with tears, and that muddy red hair that he had seen so many times but never really looked at.  
  
"Why?"  
  
"I just told you I don't know."  
  
"No, why do you follow orders?" she asked. She smiled, weakly and sadly.  
  
"I don't know that either," he replied truthfully. She watched him as he gripped his arm. Not showing that it was painful, and yet she imagined that it must be. With one last look at her in her cage, like a phoenix cornered and captured, he retreated back towards the main house.  
  
She stood quietly for a few minutes, afraid and too worn out to fight for what she needed. She figured, and rightly so, that she was here because they thought having her would bring Harry right to their door. And, if the Order had not been around to stop him, it certainly would have. Ginny was determined not to panic, that would get her nowhere. She looked around purposefully. A grate in the ceiling. A barred window. Solid, and she felt so alone. But then, she had always felt alone.  
  
She walked over to the window and peered through. It lead onto another room, just as dank as the one she was in, but she noticed the absence of any kind of cell door. If she could get through and into that room, she could escape.  
  
"Who am I kidding?" she whispered. She slumped against the wall in defeat.  
  
Hours past, her watch stopped and she lost count after three. A shadow crept across the floor to her feet and she looked up, a cloaked figure stood at the door. A mask obscured its face.  
  
It stood motionless and silent, and Ginny waited.  
  
"What do you want?" she finally asked. It continued to stare at her and said nothing. "I don't know where Harry is," she concluded.  
  
"I think you do." The voice was muffled but she still heard a hint of familiarity behind the mask. Perhaps another Hogwarts graduate? It didn't seem important.  
  
"What makes you think that I do?" she asked with a shaky voice.  
  
"Who would know better than the woman who loves him? If only you had loved me instead." He paused and removed the mask. "But of course you went running to Potter as soon as he clicked his fingers, didn't you Ginny?"  
  
"D-D-Dean?" she stuttered. She remembered sweet romantic Dean, now he had a scowl and a long scar running from his right eye to the base of his cheekbone.  
  
"See now Ginny, I have a scar too."  
  
"What happened to you?" she asked.  
  
"I learned to hate Potter, it's surprisingly easy." iI know/i, she thought. And yet, she said nothing in reply.  
  
"You have nothing to say, that surprises me," he finally said.  
  
"What ican/i I say?"  
  
"You can tell me where to find Harry Potter," he suggested angrily. She crossed her arms over her chest in the only act of defiance she had left and his scowl deepened.  
  
"Very well then." He replaced the plain mask over his face and retreated back down the corridor. Ginny ventured forward to the bars and watched him as he went.  
  
Again she was alone. She tried not to count the hours, knowing it would do her no good. What could she do now but wait?  
  
Draco stared around the room blankly. His mind reeled with questions he could not answer. What could they possibly expect to get from the frightened girl he had found in the dungeons? Or did they just intend to punish Potter by killing the woman he loved without explanation? But still the most important question eluded him; what was he, Draco Malfoy, going to do about it?  
  
He knew that this was it. He could practically see the crossroads in front of him, and still he stood and waited.  
  
Harry stood abruptly, he felt so helpless. People looked around at him expectantly but he still did not have the answers they wanted. The silence seemed to weigh down on him and his shoulders sagged heavily.  
  
"You alright mate?" Ron asked, placing his hand on Harry's arm affectionately.  
  
"No, none of us are alright are we? I mean, why Ginny?" Harry replied, turning his back so the room at large wouldn't see him cry. He felt a soft hand on his back and sunk into Mrs Weasley's motherly embrace. Her chest rose and fell erratically with sobs against him, and he tried to ignore the nagging feeling that this was all his fault.  
  
Ginny felt her eyes weigh closed as she struggled against her fatigue. It had been only four hours since Dean had left, but to her it felt like days, and it was starting to darken outside into the second night of Ginny's containment.  
  
She dreamt she was walking through a field of swaying corn. The upper leaves brushed her hair lightly as she passed and her hand flicked up automatically in irritation to brush it away. She walked on, not knowing where or why.  
  
As she walked, she could hear a sound in the distance. A growling, growing ever closer amidst the thick stalks of corn. She spun around at a sudden noise directly behind her and was jolted awake by rough hands on her.  
  
"Ginny, get up," Draco hissed. Behind him, the door to her dungeon room was lying open and smoke coiled lazily from the lock. Ginny raised a hand to her head and opened her eyes slowly.  
  
As he looked into her sleep-laden eyes he knew this was the right decision. Spur of the moment and probably terribly stupid, but definitely right. However, he hadn't really thought of how she would react in response to his act of personal defiance. 


	6. Beyond the yellow brick road

centerCHAPTER SIX – BEYOND THE YELLOW BRICK ROAD/center  
  
Ginny kicked out violently when she had focused in the gloom on those trademark grey eyes. She caught Draco on the shoulder with one booted foot and he toppled backwards.  
  
"I'm here to help you!" he whispered loudly as he lifted his hands to shield himself.  
  
"What the Hell are you talking about?" She punctuated her question with a sharp open-handed slap.  
  
"Keep your voice down." He looked quickly back over his shoulder. "I'm trying to help you."  
  
"Why would iyou/i help ime/i?"  
  
"Because I thought it might be the right thing to do." She stopped and gaped at him, he chuckled.  
  
"Why should I trust you?"  
  
"What other choice do you have?"  
  
"Look, I don't know where Harry is. I've told you already. I wasn't lying."  
  
"That's not what I want, I couldn't give hippogrff's ass about iPotter/i and his pathetic army."  
  
"How could I possibly trust you, after what you've done?"  
  
"Well I certainly didn't use a key to get that door open!" It was then that she noticed the doorway behind him, hissing and smoldering.  
  
"That doesn't prove anything."  
  
"Ginny look, I know this doesn't look good. But if you really don't know where Harry is, and I don't care if you do, then there's nothing to worry about. I'll get you out, and safe, and that'll be the end."  
  
"But how…" He waved away her question with a flick of his hand.  
  
"Don't ask," he said. iBecause I don't know/i, he added thoughtfully.  
  
"You don't know, do you?" He looked her in the eye, and she raised an eyebrow enquiringly.  
  
"Did I say that out loud?" She laughed quietly, and then looked up at him seriously.  
  
"Do you even have a plan?"  
  
"I stole you a wand," he replied hopefully.  
  
"Is it mine?"  
  
"No, but personalised wands are overrated." iA sense of humour, who would have guessed/i, she thought randomly as she stood from her uncomfortable bed and threw aside the thin blanket.  
  
And so they ran, through the dust and shadow. Hallway after hallway, and turn after turn. Draco stopped and looked around nervously.  
  
"Please tell me you know exactly where we are," Ginny said shakily.  
  
"I icould/i say that, but I would be lying," Draco replied as he pulled her towards him against the wall.  
  
"Great, so much for your plan then." He could feel her shaky breath lightly on his neck as she clung to him.  
  
"You forget, I had no plan."  
  
"I suppose apparating is out of the question?" she asked.  
  
"No wards, but there are tracking charms."  
  
"So we can apparate. Somewhere that we could confuse our direction once we get there. Or the Ministry?" He looked at her, hoping she wasn't that naïve. She was.  
  
"Ginny, the Ministry's no good," he said softly.  
  
"But," she stammered, "iI/i work at the Ministry."  
  
"Well, not all but a good few. I mean, I work at the Ministry too." She looked at him thoughtfully.  
  
"You do?"  
  
"Yes. Now, we can apparate but I don't know where." She scratched at the back of her neck thoughtfully.  
  
"A train station?" she asked. "A busy one. That way, we can catch the next train to who knows where." Draco looked at her skeptically.  
  
"A train station?"  
  
"Yes Draco." He liked the way she said his name. iStop it, and focus/i, he scolded himself, ia train station?/i  
  
"What? Like King's Cross?"  
  
"I was thinking more the London Underground."  
  
"Why would we apparate underground?" He spun his head as a noise echoed in the distance. Ginny moved closer to him and gripped his loose clothing.  
  
"Never mind, let's just go. Clear your mind." She touched his bare skin with her hands.  
  
"You're not going to do what I think, are you?"  
  
"No?" she replied and they disappeared.  
  
"Why did you do that, we could have been spliced!" Draco yelled as they emerged from behind a sign proclaiming that they were currently at the Liverpool Street Station along the London Underground.  
  
"But we weren't," Ginny answered.  
  
"We could've been."  
  
"We weren't!" There was a rumble and Draco looked down the railway line to see the approaching train.  
  
"Train's coming," he said stupidly.  
  
"I can see that."  
  
"So we just get on? No matter where it's going?"  
  
"You have a better idea?"  
  
"No."  
  
"So let's go, before they follow us." She grabbed Draco's arm and stepped forward as the train drew to a stop in front of them.  
  
They got on the train and slumped down into an empty seat, and as it sped away they heard the telltale pop of an apparating wizard.  
  
"Did you hear that?" Ginny asked, once again clinging to Draco's shirt.  
  
"Yes, but it was on the platform. It's okay." He even convinced himself. Draco expected the train to be halted and hooded figures to embark upon them, but no such thing occurred. Ten minutes later Draco opened his eyes and saw only the other passengers, trying to ignore the weeping red-head and her cloaked companion.  
  
He put his arms around her to stop her crying and she leaned against him. He could smell her hair, dirty and knotted, but still with a hint of strawberry. Energy seeped from her and she fell into a fitful sleep encircled in Draco's arms.  
  
She was in a hole; darkness encroached upon her and mocked her. She looked up and saw a patch of light she could never reach. She stood stock-still, afraid to step into the darkness, and peered around critically.  
  
"Ginny, take my hand." She looked up again and saw Harry leaning over the light.  
  
"No Ginny, come this way." She spun around, used to that familiar voice by now.  
  
"Draco?" she asked.  
  
"Yes, trust me and follow." She looked up and saw her childhood sweetheart in the light, and felt Draco move beside her in the dark. He reached out and took her hand; she entwined her fingers with his and continued to watch Harry wait for her.  
  
"Ginny, take my hand," he repeated. She stayed still.  
  
"You didn't come for me."  
  
"I've come for you now."  
  
"But it's too late Harry, it's too late." She turned as Draco led her into the shadow and slowly followed him.  
  
Ginny moaned in her sleep and Draco stoked her face. So strong and yet so weak, he thought, knowing they had been lucky and seeing that she was exhausted and afraid.  
  
Ginny woke soon after; she squinted against the halogen lights within the train. She inhaled and noticed Draco's scent, lightly masking the smell of his sweaty skin. She leaned away from him and looked up into his sparkling grey eyes.  
  
"Thank you," she whispered.  
  
"For what?" he replied. Suddenly Draco pulled his arm sharply from her and she jumped away from him with a start.  
  
"What is it? Is it him?"  
  
"It's nothing," he said through gritted teeth.  
  
"Nothing? I think I need to know if he is summoning his people Draco," she said, tears welling in the corners of her eyes that she refused to let fall. He still liked the way she said his name.  
  
"What's the point in you knowing he's calling, if I cannot answer?" Draco asked angrily.  
  
"As far as he's concerned you're still in the Manor though right? You didn't apparate, I did," she replied carefully. Draco ignored the urge to again tell her they could have been spliced.  
  
"You're right, but I'm not leaving you. And besides, if they decided to use Veritaserum for any reason I would simply tell them everything."  
  
"But I could keep moving, then you wouldn't know where I was."  
  
"And, if by some miracle, I survived after I told them it was me who set you free, how would I then find you?"  
  
"Do you want to find me?" He stiffened.  
  
"The war is about to start, you will be at the top of his list. If he can't get to Harry, he will do his best to get to you. Probably your brother and the Mud-I mean Granger as well. I feel it's best to get you where you can be taken care off." She scoffed. iWho does he think I am/i, she thought, offended.  
  
The train pulled to a stop, after 20 minutes of silence between them. Silence where Draco studied every line on her face, and Ginny studied the colour of his shoes. He stood and held his hand out, she took it and did not let it go as they left the train and began walking briskly through the station.  
  
"So what now?" Ginny asked.  
  
"This was your plan, you tell me."  
  
"My plan? Since when…" She flinched. "Oh yeah. How long does the tracking charm track us?"  
  
"I'm not sure, but I think safe is better than sorry." Ginny laughed.  
  
"I think the correct saying is 'better safe than sorry'." Draco was not amused, but was glad she found it so funny. Wait that was a lie, he was lying to himself now, he was angry. She stopped. "Never mind," she said softly.  
  
"I wont," he replied stonily.  
  
They stood in silence; Draco glared out into the early afternoon traffic. Their hands were still clasped together and Ginny was glad of the continued comfort even if it was not so intended by the giver.  
  
"So, the Ministry is out. Where now?" she finally asked.  
  
"Doesn't the famous Potter have a headquarters?" Draco asked with distinct scorn.  
  
"Well yes, but they won't let you in." Draco's brow furrowed in confusion.  
  
"They won't need to let me in, I can take care of myself."  
  
"As can I Draco, and I'm not going anywhere without you." Draco glanced at her, his brow still furrowed. 


	7. With or without you

centerCHAPTER SEVEN – WITH OR WITHOUT YOU/center  
  
"Are you crazy?" Draco asked as he climbed through a shattered window into a disused building.  
  
"No, are you?" Ginny replied with a smile.  
  
"Why would you ask that?"  
  
"The whole Voldemort/Death Eater thing jumps to mind." She lost her smile. "Why did you do it?"  
  
They had walked for almost a day, and Draco still didn't understand why she wouldn't let him take her to Potter. Something strange was happening, he was beginning to like her, and he hated himself for it. She was pretty, he knew that, but there was something else, encouraging his growing affection.  
  
"Why do you want to know?" he answered sharply.  
  
"Why are you so hostile? What have you got against me?" she asked. He turned away, to hide his expression.  
  
"It's the red hair, and the freckles, and the fact that you're a sworn member of the Harry Potter Fan Club."  
  
"Hardly," she drawled. She flipped her legs over the broken windowpane in an attempt to climb through behind him into the deserted building. She began to fall, the ache in her side becoming too much for her struggling body, and suddenly felt a warm arm around her waist holding her upright.  
  
"Are you hurt?" he asked softly. She never would have thought that this was the same boy that used to throw hexes at her in the halls simply because he could.  
  
"A rib. I think a rib is broken."  
  
"I can fix that if you want." He reached in his robes for his wand.  
  
"No, it's okay," Ginny replied quickly.  
  
"Still don't trust me with a wand, right?"  
  
"Should I?" He let her go and she grimaced noticeably.  
  
"Why don't you just go to Potter? He's the one you want," he said coldly.  
  
"He is far from the one I want, or need." She looked him in the eye, challenging him. "Why do you hate him?" she asked.  
  
"He never stopped whining, in fact he's probably still whining now. About how his precious Ginny is gone, and what not." Ginny laughed softly, careful of her now throbbing rib.  
  
"You know, you're probably right. I really should try and send some sort of message though."  
  
"We could try a wand-to-wand communication," he suggested.  
  
"I don't think there's any other possible option," she replied, fingering the wand Draco had given her. Draco pointed to the exposed rafters.  
  
"We could charm a bird to carry a message."  
  
"Which is better?"  
  
"I don't see any paper or quills available anywhere, so it's probably better to use a wand-to-wand."  
  
"Okay, what should I say though?"  
  
"Whatever you want to say, tell them we've eloped." Draco smiled wickedly.  
  
Ginny held the wand out in front of her; it blew sparks and spluttered. She looked at it disappointed.  
  
"Where exactly did you steal this wand from?" she asked, shaking it in an effort to make it more effective. It blew smoke in her face.  
  
"It was Goyle's," Draco replied. Ginny dropped it like it was on fire; in fact it iwas/i on fire.  
  
"Give me iyour/i wand," she said. He handed it to her and kicked Goyle's, now smouldering, into the corner. Ginny again held out her arm, this time the wand glowed minutely. iNot perfect/i, she thought vaguely, ibut definitely better/i.  
  
"Dragon heart string," Draco said quietly. Ginny nodded; not surprised that his wand contained the same centre as her own but knowing from the surface colour that it was not made from willow.  
  
"iVoco Concero/i," Ginny called loudly into the air. Draco smiled, that charm had been outlawed for seven years and he didn't really expect her to know it.  
  
"Ginny? Ginny?" called a shrill voice. iNot Potter/i, Draco thought smugly.  
  
"I'm here," she replied.  
  
"Oh blimey, where are you?"  
  
"Just outside of Bromley, I'm safe." She paused. "Draco Malfoy is here with me."  
  
"What?!" Ron shouted. The old building echoed, or was Draco only hearing that in his mind?  
  
"Calm down."  
  
"I will inot/i calm down, what's he done to you?"  
  
"Nothing." She paused again. "Except save my life."  
  
"What's the catch?"  
  
"No catch, Ron. I'm here, I'm safe, That's it."  
  
"iThat/i is most certainly not iit/i. Where are you? Someone will come and get you."  
  
"Us."  
  
"Wh, what?" Ron stuttered stupidly.  
  
"Us. You will come and get us," she replied simply. Draco stared at her, and she nodded to him.  
  
"Tell us where you are," Harry said evenly. Ginny's forehead creased into a frown and Draco groaned.  
  
"Not without your word."  
  
"My word on what?"  
  
"Draco Malfoy."  
  
"He's a git."  
  
"Harry, please. This isn't helping."  
  
"Tell me where you are, someone will come and get you. As an added bonus they can throw Draco Malfoy to the Dementors while they're at it." Draco let out a dry laugh, so much like his old self that Ginny was glad she had his wand gripped in her hand.  
  
"I will not."  
  
"What is wrong with you Ginny? You're protecting a known killer."  
  
"No, I'm protecting the man who saved my life." Harry ignored her comment.  
  
"If you don't tell us where you are, we will use a tracking charm and take Draco for kidnapping as well as murder."  
  
"Go ahead, we'll run," she replied harshly. Draco watched her in silence, and he could see her next move even before she committed it. "iFinite Incantartum/i," she said slowly. The connection was broken.  
  
"Great, now he thinks I've kidnapped iand/i charmed you," Draco said.  
  
"He can think what he likes," Ginny replied angrily.  
  
"That's okay for you to say, you're not the one he thinks should be thrown in Azkaban."  
  
"Should you?" she asked.  
  
"Maybe." They stared at each other in silence, until Draco could stand it no longer and looked away. She would be the ruin of him.  
  
Harry tossed Ron's wand to the ground, irritated.  
  
"What the Hell is wrong with her?" he growled.  
  
"Perhaps she's telling the truth," Hermione suggested from behind him. "Perhaps he really did save her life."  
  
"Don't be stupid Hermione, Draco Malfoy wouldn't do anything unless it benefited his own sorry ass," Ron interjected. He retrieved his wand from the floor carefully; careful to avoid Harry's rigid body.  
  
"Ron!" Despite the fact that they had not been together since their sixth year at Hogwarts, she still had that shaming effect on him that Luna never would. He blushed slightly and glanced at Harry in their all too familiar way.  
  
"Well what do we do now then?" he asked. Hermione shrugged, that she didn't know.  
  
"We wait," Mr Weasley called, "she's a smart girl. She'll contact us again."  
  
"That's if he lets her contact us again," Harry replied.  
  
"Don't talk like that, Harry dear," Mrs Weasley said quietly and Harry looked at the floor. iFine/i, he thought, iI'll think it instead/i.  
  
Harry felt guilty, he knew, but there was something more, masked by anger, and he refused to acknowledge it. It fuelled his hate, and strengthened his vengeful resolve.  
  
As Ginny slept, after her assurances that Harry would not do as he said but casting several blocking wards none-the-less, Draco sat watching her. He watched the splay of her hair around her face, he watched the rise and fall of her chest, and he watched her eyes dart back and forth beneath their lids.  
  
She dreamt of a river of blood, flowing through the halls of Hogwarts. She watched it rage and ebb around her. It soaked her bare feet where she stood and she cried silently.  
  
Draco noticed the tears rolling over her flushed cheeks and wondered whether he should wake her or not. But how long would it be before they got another chance to sleep? How long before the war would begin? He took off his cloak and draped it over her still body and lay down beside her. Soon he himself was deep in slumber, his eyes too darting back and forth.  
  
Draco stepped silently through the darkened hall of his dream, not knowing where he was. He looked up but there was no ceiling, expansive shadow rose above him into infinity. Something boomed from above and Draco stood, staring into the never-ending darkness in confusion.  
  
Ginny ran through the soaked halls, splashing blood as she went. A bang sounded within and without her dream and she halted her erratic flight.  
  
Sleep depravation guaranteed their slumber till Harry had gained entry. The door did not last long against the wands of ten aurors, and as it fell both Draco and Ginny sat up in alarm. Draco could remember little of the struggle that came next. He remembered calling to Ginny as she was taken by the mediwizards, and a charm hitting him sharply from behind. Then everything was blank. 


	8. Love is a battlefield

centerCHAPTER EIGHT – LOVE IS A BATTLEFIELD/center  
  
"You're really not worth her effort Malfoy," Harry spat. Draco watched him, disinterested, and the smaller red-headed figure behind him.  
  
"Harry please," Ginny pleaded. She placed her hand on his arm, hoping she still had some influence on his compassion.  
  
"Ginny I don't know what he's done to you, but we'll find out and fix it," he replied dismissively.  
  
"He's done nothing, I am perfectly fine." More figures advanced down the hall, towards where the two of them were standing in conference.  
  
"How is he?" Dumbledore asked as he reached them.  
  
"Still alive," Harry replied.  
  
"And I bet you wish I wasn't," Draco said bitterly.  
  
"Stop it, all of you," Ginny said loudly, stepping forward and into the room where Draco was standing passively.  
  
Mr Weasley followed her into the small room and held out his hand. Draco stared at it bewildered.  
  
"I want to say thank you." Draco looked up at his solemn face as he slowly shook his hand. A man who, a year ago, he never would have believed could make him happy with his acceptance. He looked to Ginny, and she smiled shyly.  
  
"Perhaps you two should wait upstairs, we need to speak to Mr Malfoy alone," Dumbledore said, conjuring a chair for himself with a wave of his wand.  
  
"Yes Sir," Ginny replied. She turned and followed Harry as he slumped angrily back down the hall and into the kitchen.  
  
Dumbledore sat and looked wearily at Draco.  
  
"You have been given Veritaserum," he informed him. Draco looked scathingly at the drink Potter had given him earlier and laughed.  
  
"Potter's doing, I presume?"  
  
"Yes, but can you really blame his caution?" Mr Weasley asked.  
  
"No," Draco replied. "I deserve it all."  
  
"Tell us what happened, from the beginning," Dumbledore instructed.  
  
The Veritaserum ensured Draco told them the truth, it took little over three hours and by the end of it Draco was again exhausted.  
  
"We will leave you to rest Mr Malfoy, a meal will be sent for you later." Dumbledore waved his hand and a bed appeared in the corner. Draco watched it greedily as Dumbledore and Mr Weasley left the room and headed back to the kitchen. Draco didn't even stop to remove his shoes.  
  
Harry looked up as Mr Weasley Dumbledore returned to the kitchen.  
  
"You just left him down there alone?" he asked angrily.  
  
"Harry, he's not going anywhere. You need to put aside childhood differences," Dumbledore replied.  
  
"Childhood differences? He's a murderer!"  
  
"You have no proof of that, Harry," Mr Weasley said loudly. Harry hmphed in reply.  
  
Draco thrashed in his sleep, he dreamt of the Hogwarts express but all the compartments were empty. He searched as the train sped on, and found nothing but dead air.  
  
"Ginny dear, why don't you try and get some rest?" Mrs Weasley asked for the third time.  
  
"I'd rather not," Ginny replied.  
  
"Why? So you can go and take him his dinner when he finally wakes up?" Harry asked loudly.  
  
"No," she snapped. "So you don't do anything you shouldn't." Dumbledore cast Harry a weary look and he turned to look out the window dejectedly.  
  
And so they waited, Harry and Ginny both saying very little and many a glance being sent their way by worried parents and guardians.  
  
"Well, what shall we do about the boy?" Mrs Weasley asked.  
  
"Kill him?" Harry whispered irritably.  
  
"Someone ishould/i take him some dinner," Dumbledore replied, looking at Ginny pointedly.  
  
"All right, I get the message. I'll go," she said.  
  
"No you will not," Harry interjected.  
  
"Shut up Harry, you're driving me nuts!" Ginny shouted.  
  
"I am looking out for you, I would think that you would be grateful," he answered angrily. Everyone else in the room stepped back from the estranged lovers as the heat between them rose.  
  
"Grateful? Grateful?" Ginny laughed harshly. "You're condemning the man who saved my life. I think he's more than redeemed himself for anything that you think he may have done."  
  
"You're kidding yourself if you think he did this for iyou/i, he's a selfish, self-serving, evil man Ginny, and it would take ia lot/i for him to redeem himself."  
  
"Selfish? Self-serving? That description sounds more like you than a man who risked his life to save me, who put himself in danger just for me, and let himself get arrested just to protect me."  
  
"Don't be so naive, the slimy weasel probably came here to act as a spy." Ginny stared at him, she had never wanted to hurt someone so much as she did now. She opened her mouth to reply but was stopped by a hand on her shoulder.  
  
"That's enough you two." She looked up and her father smiled down at her.  
  
"I'll take his dinner now then," Ginny said quietly and Harry groaned.  
  
She walked silently down the hall, with her tray of soup and toast and chocolate frogs. Draco looked up as she entered, flashing her a brief and unconscious smile.  
  
"I've brought you your dinner," she said.  
  
"Thanks." He looked at the tray as she handed it to him and blushed. Ginny noticed how his eyes appeared blue as his cheeks flushed. "I haven't had a chocolate frog since Hogwarts," he said.  
  
"I'll eat them, I'm starving," she replied.  
  
"I didn't say I didn't want them," he said, holding the tray possessively. "But I will share." It was her turn to blush, but as she sat down beside him on the rumpled bed he missed her rosy cheeks. He handed her one of the chocolate frogs and she began to eat it quietly.  
  
The silence was all consuming, Ginny could hear Draco chewing his soup-soaked toast.  
  
"He cheated on me," she said suddenly.  
  
"What?" Draco coughed.  
  
"Harry. He cheated on me. More than once," she repeated.  
  
"Like I've always said, Potter is an idiot." Ginny laughed and swallowed the last of her chocolate frog.  
  
"Have you ever cheated on anyone?" she asked. Draco put the tray aside and turned to face her. He noticed the darkness in her eyes, a black within the brown.  
  
"I guess I have, yes," he replied, not knowing whether his honesty was due to the lingering effects of the Veritaserum he had been given or because of something else.  
  
"Can you tell me why?" He sat silent for a few minutes, not knowing how to answer.  
  
"I don't know why, it's just something I did."  
  
"Oh." She looked up at him and he felt himself leaning towards her. She blinked and a few tears fell. iTears for Potter/i, Draco thought, ihe's not worth it/i. Strangely, the same thing that Harry had said about him not three hours ago. Draco reached up and wiped the moisture away, his hand lingered on her cheek and she covered it with her own.  
  
"You'd never cheat on me," she whispered.  
  
"No," he replied, and their lips met.  
  
He slipped his hand into her hair and she moved closer to him. He tasted vaguely of the pumpkin soup her mother had made. Suddenly she pulled away and his hand dropped into her lap.  
  
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't," she said, standing up abruptly.  
  
Harry paced the all but deserted kitchen, waiting for Ginny to return and wondering what was taking her so long. He put his hand on the doorknob just as it opened and a confused red-head flew into his arms.  
  
"What's the matter?" he asked.  
  
"Nothing." She pushed past him.  
  
"Ginny." He grabbed her arm as she fled and she spun around to face him. He leaned down and kissed her quickly, and was mildly surprised that she didn't push him away.  
  
Ginny was so lost, she let him slip his arms around her waist and pull her to him. So many images were flashing through her mind, she was beginning to feel dizzy. The look on her brother's face whenever she walked into a room hand-in-hand with Harry; How Harry's clothes had blended with hers in their closet; the way that Draco's eyes faded to blue when he smiled; and her father shaking his hand in the dark basement.  
  
Draco wondered what he had done. He paced; he did not hear the second set of footfalls entering the basement.  
  
"I hope you've seen enough of Ginny, because she won't be coming near you again," Harry said to his back. Draco spun around and sneered at him, too blinded by contempt to realise they were alone for the first time and he was effectively at Harry's limited mercy.  
  
"I wasn't aware you were her keeper, Potter," he replied.  
  
"You never were the bright one." Harry shifted his wand in his hand.  
  
"What do you want Potter?"  
  
"I want to see you thrown to the Dementors."  
  
"Really? Well, it's not up to you is it?" Draco kept his emotionless stare fixed on Harry, he had no doubt that he deserved to be thrown to the Dementors but he also knew he was entitled to a trial and that Harry was not on the Board of Illegal Magic.  
  
"I'll make it up to me," Harry replied, holding his wand tighter.  
  
"What are you going to do Potter, kill me?"  
  
"I'm just going to make sure you never see Ginny again." Harry raised his wand.  
  
"Go ahead and try," Draco replied. "When are you going to realise that the world isn't going to worship at your feet just because you want it to?" Harry suddenly laughed bitterly.  
  
"iColloportus/i," he shouted. The open room in front of him seemed to collapse on itself, in a mist of dust and mortar the room was closed off and Draco was trapped. The silence was deafening, a quiet hum began in Draco's ears.  
  
The silence around them wasn't to last long however, as plans were now being strategically formulated to follow the locator charm imbedded in the dark mark on Draco's arm. A small detail that few knew about, and even fewer knew how to remove.  
  
Draco scratched at the mild pain in his arm. The dark mark glowed beneath his shirt sleeve and he watched it curiously.  
  
Harry was almost smiling when he returned to the kitchen. Almost. He hadn't liked the way Ginny had pushed him away. iHis/i Ginny. Three pairs of eyes looked up at him as he entered, but none belonged to Ginny.  
  
"Where's Ginny?" he asked.  
  
"She's gone for a lie down," Mrs Weasley replied with a triumphant smile.  
  
"Oh," he said, hoping he didn't sound too disappointed. "Good," he added for good measure.  
  
Harry sat and everyone looked at him expectantly. He thought frantically of an excuse for what he had just done, assuming they somehow knew, ashamed of his impulsivity and bitter irritability. iHe provoked me/i, he thought. Dismissing the idea when he realised Draco had no wand and was no threat to him. iHe tried to escape/i, he reasoned. iHe threatened Ginny/i, he tried. Each one sounded as improbable as the last. Harry sighed.  
  
"What?" he asked.  
  
"How's Draco doing?" Lupin ventured.  
  
"He left," Harry replied quickly.  
  
"What?" Dumbledore asked, standing.  
  
"He left."  
  
"You just let him leave?" Mr Weasley asked disbelievingly.  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"And he just left?" Lupin asked.  
  
"Yeah," Harry repeated.  
  
"And he didn't ask for his wand or anything?" Mr Weasley asked.  
  
"Nope." Mr Weasley opened his mouth to challenge Harry's apparent vagueness, but a loud crash from the next room made them all jump in alarm.  
  
Tonks poked her disheveled head around the door into the kitchen and the three that had remained sitting stood expectantly. Something about the look on her face told them that Draco and his sudden disappearance was the least of their worries.  
  
"Diagon Alley, and we need everyone you can pick up on the way," she said, and was gone again with a pop.   
  
Draco heard the commotion from above him, and wondered what was going on. The heat in his arm intensified and he vaguely wondered about a rumour he had heard once about the mark. He looked at it, glowing ominously.  
  
"Oh God, they know where I am," he said aloud. He looked around, for some way out. But there was none. There was silence upstairs, and it was almost worse than the frantic noise there had been a moment ago. He cursed Harry under his breath.  
  
Ginny rolled over in her sleep, she dreamt she was drowning and nobody would save her. Why did she always need saving? She hated it. First there was her brothers, always trying to watch out for her and take care of her. Then there was Harry, who always treated her like a china doll. Like she would break if he let go. Well she wasn't going to break, and she wasn't going to drown.  
  
She woke with a start and sat up. There was a crash from downstairs and she looked around the darkened room suspiciously. Suddenly there were too many shadows in the room, and they all seemed to be moving.  
  
Draco pounded on the door Harry had created; hoping someone would hear him in the house. Hoping there was still someone iin/i the house. He heard a crash and a scream.  
  
"Ginny?" He listened, and she screamed again. This time he was certain it was Ginny. iWhere is the Boy-Who-Lived now?/i Draco thought icily.  
  
Ginny screamed, something inanimate jumped at her in the dark. She walked quietly through the dead house; anxiously wondering where everyone had gone and why they had all left her alone. She heard voices as she descended the stairs and hurried ahead. Dismissing her increasing feeling of dread, she pushed the kitchen door open and stepped through.  
  
Draco couldn't wait any longer, he knew he had to do something. iTime to show them what you're made of/i, he thought. He knew what he had to do, he had to master a skill he never could before. Wandless magic.  
  
They didn't even try to grab her, she stood transfixed. How had they found it? How had they found Grimmauld Place?  
  
"Well well, we came for Draco but she'll do nicely," one of them said as they removed their masks. She recognised two of the faces from Hogwarts, the third was a mystery.  
  
"The master will be very pleased." Ginny finally gained back the use of her legs, and with a silent curse to Draco for leading them here she ran back through the kitchen door.  
  
Draco tried to focus his mind on only Ginny and how she had felt in his arms.  
  
"iReducto/i," he said as he held his outstretched arms towards Harry's makeshift door. Nothing happened.  
  
"iReducto/i," he shouted again, louder this time hoping that it would make a difference. Still nothing happened. Ginny screamed again.  
  
"iReducto/i!" The wall crumbled.  
  
He climbed quickly out over the rubble, coughing against the dust and debre. He didn't even stop to think before he run up the hall towards the kitchen.  
  
Ginny pressed herself back into the wall, hoping that if she pushed hard enough that it would swallow her. The unfamiliar Deatheater leaned towards her with a sneer.  
  
"Quite pretty, isn't she?" he asked.  
  
"Indeed," the other drawled. "Now, if you're finished Jackson, we can do what we came here for and find Draco Malfoy."  
  
"It's too late, iI've/i found iyou/i," Draco said from the doorway. Ginny looked up at him in alarm, a mixture of relief and anger on her face.  
  
"That just saves ius/i the trouble, Malfoy," Jackson replied.  
  
"What do you want?" Draco asked.  
  
"It's not what we iwant/i, it's what we ihave/i," the third said, stepping forward.  
  
"All right, what do you ithink/i you have?" Draco corrected.  
  
"We have a traitor." Jackson paused and turned his attention to Ginny. "And bait."  
  
Harry dodged an airborne hex, thrown in his direction from some unknown wizard. He saw chaos all around him, and through it all a growing shadow. And he knew this was it. The end.  
  
Ginny felt her wand press into her back, she had forgotten it was there. Tucked into her back pocket. While two of the three Deatheaters were focused on Draco, and the third watched her clumsily, she reached slowly to her pocket and gripped her wand.  
  
Harry dodged another hex as he advanced through the battlefield. Searching for where he knew he had to be. He was walking towards something he had been waiting his whole life for.  
  
Ginny contemplated her options; it was three against one. And who knew now which side Draco would be on. She caught his eye, but the silent communication did nothing to give her confidence. She wondered if she could disarm all three of them with one incantation, like she had seen Harry do once. It seemed she had no choice but to try.  
  
She slowly withdrew her wand from behind her, as her guard turned his back, and pointed it at the small huddle the Deatheaters had formed. They were playing right into her hands, why hadn't they searched her?  
  
"iExpelliarmus/i!" she called. Three wands flew across the room and three angry faces turned to her. One of them laughed, but Ginny's mind was elsewhere. She saw behind them as Draco picked up the expelled wands. iPlease let him be on my side/i, she thought wildly. A shiver ran through her body as he pointed a wand at her. 


End file.
